Stray

When teens stray--everyone in the family suffers. And everyone wants to find the quickest way out. Thank goodness God doesn't parent us, his children, that way! Thank you Scott for this honest, realistic, no pie-in-the-sky look at what it means to be parents of teens who choose to go their own way. Facing the hard facts is tough--but this book helps you realize you are not alone. And, although there is no easy way out, there is always hope. The stories, statistics, practical advice based on years of experience, and biblical perspectives make this one of the best resources available for those who are struggling down this path. If you're on this journey, the resource directory alone is worth the price of the book. So don't give in and don't give up. In the words of Robert Louis Stevenson, "the best way out is always through." This practical guide will help you parent for the long haul.

Scott Larson's book, "When Teens Stray" is a tremendous resource for any parent, counselor, youth worker or pastor, and should be on the shelf of anyone who needs a concise, down-to-earth resource for working through various issues with teenagers. It should also be required reading for anyone working with teens in any capacity. I would also strongly recommend this book to any healthy family as well. It would affirm, prepare and grant additional insight into parent-teen relationships. Scott's experience in working with troubled youth gave him many pertinent illustrations to draw from. His style is easy to read, straight-forward and peppered with excellent guidelines and suggestions. It also includes many practical helps and an excellent list of resources and ministries, this book is a must-have!
Lennie Spitale, Director of Prison Ministries, Vision New England

If you're raising teenagers and are feeling the generation gap widen by the day, "When Teens Stray" will help you regain a solid perspective on your role as a parent or guardian and help you stop beating yourself up about your parenting abilities. Two chapters in particular, "Seven Common Myths Parents Hold About Their Kids" and "Six Common Myths Paents Hold About Themselves," get to the heart of the matter and challenge the uncertainty and despair we parents sometimes feel wondering if our kids will ever turn into responsible, enjoyable adults! Although written from a Christian perspective, there's not an ounce of "Christianese" or "holier than thou" preaching in the book; just encouragement and affirmation and lots of examples of parent/teen struggles. I highly recommend this book.

This volume of data, anecdotes, and knowledge is unsurpassed in helping the growing volume of stray and/or feral cats! Beautifully written and lovely photos, it is a treasure of information and a pleasure to read! It should be in the library of every "cat person" as well as schools, vet waiting room, pet supply shops, book stores!

Arising from her lifelong commitment and efforts to helping all types of animals, Ann K. Fisher has written Living In Shadows: How To Help The Stray Cat In Your Life (Without Adding To The Problem) is a straightforward, informed and informative introductory guide to feeding and caring for stray cats without attracting other animals, how to humanely trap feral cats for spaying or neutering, orphan kitten care, and gradually taming feral cats for domestic relationships. A practical, useful guide for cat lovers of all ages and circumstances, Living in Shadows is very highly recommended reading and an invaluable addition to community libraries and animal shelter reference collections.

That skinny cat keeps coming to your back door. When you show any interest, he dashes away. What is the kindest thing to do? Keep leaving out food? Call the local Humane Society? Trap him?
Ann Fisher offers no-nonsense guidance in what has to be one of the most unusual how-to books ever written. She doesn't mince words. Some feral cats will never be tamed. Think about your investment of time and money. Set limits.

Still, your feral cats may become part of your household, even if they live in the back yard. By spaying even one cat, you are doing a lot of good. And if you are not in a position to help a cat first-hand, Fisher provides a list of cat-saving organizations that will be very grateful for your donations.

Here's the perfect gift for your cat-fanatic friends who, like me, hope to evolve into little old ladies who live for their cats.

If you know a boy ... have a boy ... who "doesn't like to read", read him this one. You will love it and he will be pulled into Ian's world immediately. Besides, is there a better way to turn on a non-reader than to read aloud. Do it. Then give your copy to a sixth grade teacher so he/she can read it aloud to many kids every year.

Ian has known nothing other than the dairy farm for his eleven years of life. He doesn't seem to be a farm kid--his mother always acted as a buffer between he and his father--but the chores, the cows, and the routines have become a comfort zone for Ian. When his father decides to sell their cows, Ian is surprised at how much he is against it. But ever since the ice storm broke power lines, stray voltage has plagued their farm, and the cows are sick because of the extra electricity. The farm is also suffering because Ian's mother has left. Suddenly there is one less person to help with chores or keep things clean in the house. Ian struggles with missing his mother, and finding his place on the farm without her. School saves Ian, and his teacher often provides the comfort he needs.

The emotions in this book are real and powerful--the reader is drawn into Ian's world, and can't help feeling the same things Ian is feeling. Ian's character also feasibly develops through the course of the book, and we see him change from event to event. Other characters do not suffer development at Ian's expense, though. Doyle creates each person with the same care as she does Ian. Farm kids--old and young--will be able to identify with many things in this book. Reader should know that there is undisguised swearing in the book, but it fits the scenes and characters and discussion. Overall, this book didn't disappoint me!

In language that shimmers, like the ice storm so beautifully described in it, this book brings to life some very real boys, aged 11 and 17, who live on a farm in Vermont, and grow up by doing tangible things like cleaning out the barn, playing basketball, making maple syrup, doing homework, and by having relationships with the people around them that are rich, warm, but often painful. Dad is difficult, Mom is distant(read that gone), and you can just about cut the tension created in this little world of thinking adolescents. These are people who are living and growing by doing and thinking, not standing and watching.
The best things about this book are the fact that the writer treats both her characters and readers with the greatest of respect, never talking down to them, the plot really charges to a climax, and the writing is just so..good. A great book either to read yourself(parent) or get for that child who you'd like to get interested in good writing.

This is an excellent, and concise, guide to learning the nature of pet overpopulation problems in your own community. Without trying to provide a "one-size-fits-all" solution, the author explains that you can gather facts and data, analyze them and find out what needs to be done to make a more humane community. This is not a book with cute stories or heart-tugging appeals. Instead, it is a book that will make you curious about your local animal laws, your shelters and rescue groups, and how many people decide to get a pet in any given year.

You might not know Bob Christiansen's name. His ideas aren't designed to make him famous. Instead, they are ideas that help YOU find ways to stop the killing. They will enlighten, surprise and intrigue you. And lastly, Save Our Strays doesn't try to point fingers or pit groups against one another. Christiansen asks us to look at facts about our own communities, and use those facts -- rather than feelings -- to identify where we need to begin.

If you love animals, you MUST own this book!

I bought this book after a heart breaking trip to the local pound. I was overwhelmed with how many adoptable, healthy animals there, who if not soon adopted, would be euthanized. I decided that I wanted to find out WHY there were so many unwanted animals and WHAT I could do to help. SAVE OUR STRAYS was exactly what I was looking for. If you are concerned about the current state of animal welfare, please buy this book.

Dear Mr. Cristiansen,

In my conversation with Carol Monroe a week before the meeting, I was promised that I could speak for 5 or 6 minutes about what I believed to be the solution to the pet over population problem. I prepared a 6-minute presentation. Unfortunately Carol must not have told you of her promise to me and you cut my presentation time and I was unable to make my conclusion.

Proving yet again, Dr. Stultzberg's (of PETsMART) contention in her half page rebuke of Carol in the Arizona Republic.

The answer to the problem is: Put birth control additives in pet food.

It is very difficult to argue a point that is absolutely correct. An example: "Put fluoride in the drinking water to prevent cavities." I believe that you will have a difficult time finding many people today that are against this solution to tooth decay. Yet, when this solution was presented, it was fought vigorously by many large groups of people. Why? I have no idea. But many people had either fears or vested interests to contend with.

Let's look at the fears and vested interests in the birth control pet food issue. Fears: Giving my pet an additive might hurt it. This is "Big Brother" getting further into my life. This is stepping on my "Rights."

Vested interests: MCRAC: Started to protect citizens from the threat of rabies, expanded to protect citizens from roaming dogs, expanded to prevent animal abuse, expanded again to help with pet adoptions. Funded by the county and pet licensing. One avenue to more funding is proving to the county that there are more problems with dogs and cats that can be solved by this agency. Another is proving to the community a valid reason for licensing their pets.

Arizona Humane Society: If MCRAC did its job, there would be no need for this agency. In many areas the Humane Society and the County Animal control agencies are combined. Funded by donations and fees. Strong tie to the community with continuing distress calls and public viewing of animal cruelty reports. Sixty cats rescued, fifty-five euthanized the next day. High profile, big budget, "cash" business, with over 1 million dollars in cash assets.

Pet food manufactures: Fewer pets' means lower pet food sales. Investors want more profit, not less profit. How can they approach their Board of Directors with, "Hey I've got a great idea, we can introduce birth control additives and reduce the sales of our pet food by 10% a year for the next 10 years?"

1. Many people will resist birth control additives simply because it is a change.

2. 84% of people adopt puppies or kittens and let older dogs and cats die. Caused by the availability of puppies and kittens. Think about it. Bring a child to a Shelter where there are 8 darling little puppies, and 3 older dogs. The child will be attracted to the small helpless puppy, with that "smell" and nuzzling. The child falls in love with the puppy and the older dogs get left. Remove the never-ending supply of puppies and more "older" dogs will get adopted. PETsMART has proven this.

3. Nobody wants to pay more taxes! Tax non-birth control pet food 25%. This tax will give the manufactures the incentive to produce this product. Manufactures will see that if they introduce a birth control pet food that does not have this 25% tax, they will sell more pet food now and have an advantage over their competition that is not producing birth control pet food. Even though the long-term effect will be lower food sales, the short-term gains will drive them to produce this product. Net effect, little or no tax and over all cost of prevention set at pennies per day.

4. Birth control has proven to be safe in the human species. The major concern with birth control has been the possible side effects from long term usage. The human species has shown no long-term effect and the human outlives the dog and cat by a factor of seven.

5. Feral cats. It has been reported that the size of the feral cat population is approximately 40% of the domestic cat population and 25% of feral cats get their food from humans providing them with pet food. If the less expensive, birth control pet food was made available, people buying food for feral cats would help control the feral cat population. Agencies wanting to reduce the feral cat population could just simply feed them.

6. Breeders. Those who wish to breed pets can go to the MCRAC and buy a breeder's license, this license allows breeders to buy non-birth control pet food. The breeder still has to pay the additional tax as an incentive to go back to birth control pet food.

7. Veterinary services. Billions of dollars are spent each year preventing unwanted births and these efforts should continue, but the even this amount of effort is not solving the problem. Everyone agrees that there are too many unwanted births. Birth control pet food is an even more cost-effective method of solving the unwanted birth problem.

8. Identifying the problem. Tons of time and effort is spent on quantifying the exact problem, how many dogs, how many cats, how many feral cats, how many unwanted pregnancies and so on.

The reality is one unwanted birth is too many.

We don't want to kill dogs and cats, so we remove the reproductive system of many of them, let the rest breed and wait a few years and then kill them, excuse me, "euthanize" them and we call ourselves "Humane."

Birth control pet food is a humane way of lowering pet overpopulation. It should be our first line of defense. We inject a vaccine into dogs to prevent rabies. We do invasive surgery to sterilize animals to prevent births. If we could find a vaccine to inject to prevent births we would use it. We have an oral vaccine to prevent births it's called birth control pet food.

Who can make this happen? Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Why? He's the only one with the power to get past the fears and vested interests of "status quo."

Thank you for your time,

Harold Clements

Jane Sullivan hits it big and hits it funny with STRAY HEARTS. In a fit of revenge, Kay Ramsey has a grooming service shave Up You into her cheating ex-fiance's prize purebred. The insult should have read Up Yours, but the artist ran out of dog. Her sentence to a veterinary clinic and her fear of animals keep the laughs coming and the chemistry sizzling between Kay and the resident vet. This book is a definite MUST READ. I can't wait for the next Jane Sullivan Novel.

I really enjoyed this book! Jane Sullivan has great skill at telling a story that makes you not want to keep reading until the last page and even then you wish that there was more (I can't wait to read her next book). There was a great mix of emotions both tears and laughs and plenty of romance too. I highly recommend this book to anybody who likes romantic comedy.

This book contains two complete novels, and I've so far only read STRAY HEARTS by Jane Sullivan, but I had to stop and write a review. Stray Hearts is about a woman, Kay, who is terrified of animals. When she catches her fiance with another woman, she hires a dog groomer to shave naughty words into the coats of his prize cocker spaniels. She gets caught, and the law comes down hard--she has to do volunteer work in an animal shelter.

The hero is the vet who runs the shelter, and he puts poor Kay to work scooping cat boxes! He's skeptical about her, and she's terrified of the animals. I won't tell you how they work it out, but I can assure you it's funny! A great, fast read, very well written, with lots of reasons to smile and sometimes laugh out loud. Especially fun if you like animals.

This is an excellent resource for anyone with an interest in helping stray cats. Using advice I garnered primarily from this book and my vet, I turned a wounded stray cat into a contented house cat.

I heard this author was on TV after winning a special award because of its concise and well written content.

This book gives a clear cut, no nonsense, help for those of us with many stray and feral cats in our neighborhoods. As the preface states: "it is a definite how to guide for helping the millions of stray and feral cats currently living outdoors."

This book will be a breath of fresh air for those dog lovers who hear a lot of stories about abused and neglected dogs. Although many of the dogs described have poor backgrounds, the incredibly kind hearts of the people who adopted them is a real inspiration. Up to reading this book, my wife and I were wondering whether we should adopt a second dog. This book has put our decision "over the top."

Elise Lufkin has managed, in her book Found Dogs, to move without cloying, to educate without preaching and to make us laugh. This book is a compilation of photos and stories of dogs who have been rescued by caring people and many of who have in turn "rescued" their new owners. These stories range from the amazing; the dog who can detect her owner's oncoming seizure, to the heartwarming; the dog who has they same big brown eyes as his owner's late husband. Diana Walker's photographs capture the connection between each "found dog" and his savior. She shows not only the uniqueness of the dogs but also the varied roles they play in their owner's lives. Useful information on adopting and adapting to a pet is provided. This book is a must for all the animal lovers on your Holiday gift list.

I love this book so much that I decided to donate a copy of it to my local public library in memory of my most beloved doggie-man, Forrest.
I've owned it for years and have read it several times- it never gets old.
I am glad to see they have come out with a second edition, I will definitely be buying it very soon!

Shelter Dogs Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays, a voluminous, phenominal book provides you and exponentually heart-warming feeling. This awesome book holds eight incredible, fantastic narratives - each about a dog, its new family and a chalanging task they have to complete. Ivan, Joey, Zoro, and Kirby each have a differant implausible story. In Kirby's story something strange happens to his faithful owner. For three days he goes without food, water, and someone to take care of him. He becomes as scared as you could be if you were about to be gobbled up by a tyrannosurus-rex! What happened to his faithful owner?

This book has only some examples of shelter dogs who become part of a family. Zorro,Kirby,Ian,Tracker, and Joey are some of the characters, or dogs, in this wonderful book. Kirby is a westie who's owner died. Kirby was left alone in his house without food or water for seven days before he was discovered. When People came to get him, he snarled and snapped. They could not put him up for adoption. Right before they put him to sleep, while they were trying to get a leash on him, a woman asked if he would like to go for a walk. When he heard that word, he turned into an affectionate, loving pup. That was one example of the interesting stories in this book. With shelter dogs who become seizure alert dogs, actors, and family dogs, this is truly a great book!

Zorro,Tracker,Kirby,Joey,These are a few of the amazing dogs I read about in Peg Kehrets book called Shelter dogs . Amazing storys of adopted stays. This book will take your heart away when you read how these dogs survide there tragical lives. This story is about dogs that were given to the Humane Society because the owners cn't take good care of them.

I liked this book because it taught lessons on responsibility, trust, and courage. I would recommend this book to others because if you're a dog lover you'll like it. It teaches good lessons about being nice to animals. My favorite story was about a dog named Zorro. Zorro was a very big dog with a lot of energy. He had something called kennel cough. Zorro was a very loving and caring dog and thats what I liked.

I was so excited to see my Grandfather's name in print; Reginald Marshall Worby. It is too bad that he died before the printing of this book.

My Grandfather was at St. Augustine with Perry's father. I have been in contact with Perry via email.

I can now understand why my Grandfater cried when he was telling me about his experiences as a boy. I am sure my Grandfather purposely left a lot out of his stories, things he was trying to forget. I did a paper on his life story when I was in highschool, it makes me sad to know that so many of these children were treated so cruely.

My Grandfather did eventually find his family, he was one of the lucky ones as many families are still looking for their roots.

Thank you Perry!!!

Perry Snow book has opened my eyes to my own families past and thanks to Perry his love for his father and in his words for the home children,I am pleased to say i have recieved a confirmation on my own grandmother that she was know to Barnardos am expecting something soon..Thank you Perry Snow your father would be proud ..And i hope all read NEITHER WAIF NOR STRAYS..It is our stolen idenitys.God Bless you Perry

Powerful! A must read for anyone who suspects they may have a Home Child or Orphan Train Rider ancestor. Mr. Snow gives hope for researching these lost ancestors. Too many people do not know that these children were placed on both sides of the US/Canadian border. Mr. Snow's analysis of the psychological effects should help Home Children and their descendants to understand how this shameful scheme shaped their lives. My thanks to Mr. Snow.

This book was a good ending i think and it was sort of sad though. Lisa was so sure about PJ being the horse she wanted when he was taken away from her so fast! you can kinda of sense the end of the saddleclub while u read, but i also enjoy Pine Hollow, even though its mostly romance stuff. This is a good and really emotional book and it does leave u hanging and wondering if the end is near! buy it!

I havn't read Stray Horse yet, but it looks REALLY good! Although, i really hope that this isn't the last book in the series, becasue the Saddle Club is just TO GOOD to end. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON"T END THE SADDLE CLUB!
Although things that i think need imporoving are: More books with Phil, more funny bits, like, with Veronica or something. ALthough, i think the books need to have more in them. Everything happens in a short time, like HArd HAt for instance. When i read that, I felt as if i had only read about 6 chapters. Unless its just me, becasue i read pretty fast! hehe
It was a good book though!
Please take my thoughts into consideration Ms. Bryant!
Saddle Club Rules!!!!

What a moving book. Lisa's parents have just dropped a big bomb on her. Her parents are getting a divorce and she does not know how to deal with it very well. So she starts spending a lot of time at the local animal shelter where she becomes attached to a stray horse She names PJ and you'll just have to read the book to find out why she named him that. Stevie and Carole are doing the best they can to be supportive of their friend in her time of need. Can they help lisa come to terms with her Parnets divorce and the sudden arrival of Pj's Orginal owner? Just read this book and you will learn all the anwers. This book Really helps to Tie into the first book of the Pine hollow Series Called the Long Road Home. Be sure to read this one!!!! IT had me tears!